Tuesday, September 7, 2010

[alt: The tumbleweed then tried to roll off into the sunset, but due to the Old West's placement north of the subtropical ridge, the prevailing winds were in the wrong direction.]

I was basically at a total loss for this one, not able to come up with anything beyond "this is so boring i can barely stand it."Luckily, the old adage that "every single commenter on xkcdsucks is smarter than Carl" proved true once more, as an Anonymous poster noted that this comic is much improved with the simple reversal of panels 3 and 4.

It's true - as it stand, panels 1 and 2 set up that there is a duel (that's fine), but 3 sets up the idea of a tumbleweed with a gun. What can possibly follow that that would be funny and subvert expectations, we wonder. Then we read panel 4: the tumbleweed shoots them.

The problem is that there's nothing in panel 4 that our minds didn't immediately assume based on panel 3. Far better to have them shot first, and have us wonder who shot them (or did they shoot each other?) and then have the reveal be the wacky twist - it was the tumbleweed all along! the tumbleweed! that mother fucker.

Anyway, that simple reversal isn't quite enough to make the comic right - for example, I think it would be better to have the tumbleweed appear far right in panel 1, and then a little more to the left in panel 2, and delete the awkward "TUMBLE!" sound effect in panel 2. You'd also want to get rid of that weird little vibrating effect on either side of the tumbleweed in what would be the new panel 3, as it draws attention to the surprise too early. Still, these are small changes, and would lead to a far stronger comic.

It's still not a great comic - I mean, it boils down to "hey guys! what if the TUMBLEWEED did it!" - but it's somewhat solid. Much better than the utter bore we have.

My mind had some trouble resolving what was happenening in this one. For some reason I saw panel three not as "tumbleweed with guns" but as "both shooters have somehow become tangled up in the tumbleweed". Then panel 4 made no sense whatsoever. It took me a good minute before I could figure out what I was actually looking at.

Yeah, yeah, complaining about Randall's art is not exactly new, but this isn't something I usually have a problem doing.

790 seems pretty funny. Nothing new or exciting, but it's the pretty much the first XKCD that's made me chuckle since I started reading this blog. I'm sure you will ruin my illusions in a few hours and explain why it's actually terrible.

My biggest complaint against xkcd is that Randall's jokes (when there are jokes) are forced through so much contrived dialogue and a misplaced art style that they come out incomprehensible. This comic, unlike a few hundred of his most recent ones, doesn't do that; and for that alone I have to applaud the author for overcoming one of my biggest points of contention.

What follows is definitely splitting hairs, but here goes:

- I don't think the "tumble" in panel 2 is awkward, I think it's funny. I can see how you might read it as "Randall doesn't know how to use sound effects" which, given his track record for the use of comic strip conventions, might just be possible. But the absurdity of a tumbleweed making a tumble sound is enough to make me think it's a joke.- The twist doesn't take place in the last panel. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The buildup and twist are still there, it's just that the punchline, as it were, takes two panels to carry out. Again, given Randall's background of post-punchline dialogue (which, incidentally, makes me want to strangle a baby every time I see it), I can see how this might be interpreted as "Randall once again fails at putting the punchline in its proper place", but I see it as a punchline that required both panels 3 and 4 to be clear, in whichever order.- Continuing that thought, I don't think it'd be much better with panels 3/4 switched. The punchline is "the tumbleweed is doing the shooting" and either order communicates that equally well. The only difference I can see is that the swapped panels would produce a moment of "wtf" when the men are shot before revealing the tumbleweed with guns. I don't think that moment of confusion improves the twist at all, just delays it, which is not in and of itself an improvement.

Finally, there's the criticism that the comic isn't anything special, just pretty wacky. I know that I've tired of wackiness in xkcd because that's what so many of Randall's comics are dependent on nowadays - "look, these two stick figures are doing something WACKY isn't that WACKY?"

Yet, I think there's a difference between wackiness and absurdity in xkcd. In the beginning, the comic was absurd; recently it's grown to be wacky. Absurdity doesn't call attention to itself. It doesn't say, "hey guys I'm being ABSURD isn't that just SO ABSURD," it just is absurd, and you can take it or leave it. This is a brilliant, absurd xkcd. Classic xkcd. The days I wish we could have back.

What I'm getting at is this: the xkcd I liked, and I'm pretty sure it's the xkcd you liked too, was absurd. And I see this comic as an absurd xkcd, which made me smile. No, it's not genius, but it's not WACKY RANDALL (TM) either. I like it. I wouldn't mind seeing more of this sort of thing, an absurd situation played straight.

They know which subjects got the placebo and which got the anti-rash thing. Otherwise, there'd, um, be no point in even having a control group? In fact, if they didn't know, the control group would be not only pointless, but misleading.

Anyway, I would've liked this comic if he'd picked a drug that actually fit the image. I mean, come on, LSD? A type 2 (out of 5) hallucinogen, the strongest likely affect of which is subtly perceiving things as slowly transforming into other things. Why not, like, meth, or DMT?

Yeah I know that sounds incredibly pedantic, but it just irks me that this comic doesn't really make sense, when if you changed one word, it would make perfect sense. If you ask me I'm a lot more justified than anyone who got bothered over his use of primitive a few dozen comics ago.

Anon 10:20, even in a double blind trial someone knows who has taken each drug, just not the doctor making observations, otherwise what the hell would be the point of a study. So maybe the people watching shouldn't be confused, but the general idea of the comic works.

No. Even in a double blind study (and most medical studies are double blind), there is always someone who knows which group is the control group, otherwise, as a poster already pointed out, the experiment would be COMPLETELY POINTLESS. The person is usually an advisor or someone who plays no role in the experiment, only informing the experimenters after data have been collected.

@ Anon 10:31.

No. The people watching should be confused about why people in their control group are hallucinating (they are unaware that sneaky Randall has slipped them acid).

Scott McTony seems to be the only other person who knows what a "blind" experiment is.

Guys, Randall is a genius and the comic was obviously intended as a sliding puzzle. Get this: swap panels 3 and 4, then swap panels 1 and 3, then swap panels 1 and 2, then swap panels 1 and 4, then insert that drawing of Megan's vagina as the last panel and start fapping away. Bliss.

These comics blew. Blah blah blah you are forever endangering people's lives just so you can screw with a perfectly harmless test blah blah double blind blah blah

Though I'm going to have to defend the two most recent alt texts. They weren't just the joke repeated, they added their own little thing, they were realistic conclusions based on the situation presented. I thought the LSD placebo thing was almost a little funny.

And the tumbleweed alt text was exactly the kind of nerdy the comic SHOULD be. Knowledgeable about subjects that don't matter, and pointing out the inconsistencies in things, while still sort of making the joke "Yeah, I really am nitpicking, but just saying".

ANYWAYS I found it weird that Randall could take a step in the right direction with one part of his comic while take five steps back in the comic part.

Seriously? The Tumbleweed had a gun, and shot them? That is about as clever as a Robot Chicken joke.

Seriously? The joke is that people sure wouldn't act normal if they were on LSD, and that would ruin Randall's beloved science? Weak man, totally weak.

"the study's blind, right? so they'll just assume their anti-rash thing causes psychosis and ditch it"

wat

"The joke is that people sure wouldn't act normal if they were on LSD"

no (or at least, not all)

Anyways...

I thought latest 789 was actually a decent comic. The idea is pretty clever, and the alt-text actually helps instead of adding absolutely nothing worthwhile at all to the comic. And yet, it feels like Randall had a nice idea in his head and just drew out the first comic that came to mind without really trying. The set-up is just far too vague. Also, "OH GOD SPIDERS" is quite possibly the least creative thing he can come up with for somebody who is high to say. Could've been an awesome comic, is now just meh/heh-i-guess comic.

There you are - all xkcd haters - but not being able to even notice a grave continuity mistake in the comic [789 which that comment thread should be about - that goes to all you early posters - can't you wait until Carl has posted something about 790?].Anyway what's the mistake that nobody seemed to notice?In panel 1 & 2 the two people are basically standing in line with the viewers line of vision, i.e. they are standing in the front and back with the sun in the far back.Now look at panel 4.The viewer sees them left and right which suggests that he/she is watching the scene from the side now which - granted - makes it easier to depict the simultaneous shooting of both people.However, may I now draw your attention to the sun. It is still in the far back.Now, either between panel 2 and 4 some 6 hours have passed - to have the sun move some 90 degrees on the sky - or we have a continuity mistake. You be the judge.

There's some kernel of truth in the above - the alt-text for the new one is actually pretty funny. The actual comic isn't really.

That aside, two minor niggles:

1) that thing like what whoever said about it being crystal meth you associate with SPIDERS and stuff

2) surely one of the trained medical professionals carrying out these experiments would be able to recognise that the control group were blissed out of their heads? (Is 'blissed out' a phrase you can only use for E? Stupid drug language).

I'm actively avoiding the newest comic, so fuck you guys, I'll talk about this tumbleweed one.

Now... the incredible thing about this comic is that... it really is a very good strip... IF YOU SWITCH THE LAST PANEL WITH THE PENULTIMATE ONE! Now, you look at this man, who is 5 years doing webcomics and you realize the guy doesn't even have a grasp of, you know, humor. I... I'm speechless.

And there's the point that it has little to do with everything else xkcd(the math, the geekiness, the quirky-quirky relationships, the vaginas). It sort of looks like a chainsawsuit with even less detail. It's not a real complaint, but it's sort of... nagging me in a corner of my mind.

I'm still baffled at how simple it'd be to make this comic so much better, and yet Randall just can't see it. Clearly the man doesn't care. Maybe he's way too busy basking in his GOMMHistic glory and counting wads of money he makes from selling stick figures on t-shirts to try and improve his work...

All the people saying "this comic just boils down to WHAT IF A TUMBLEWEED SHOT SOMEONE" are wrong. No it doesn't work when you just say it like that, but it does work as a visual gag. Different jokes work in different media.

Man, the most common form of study is the double-blind study (open sided or single-blind doesn't hold much cred in the scientific community), where-in none of those who actively participate in the experiment (researchers as well as subjects) has no clue about which group is the placebo. Now sure, someone must know, but that is probably the "experiment leader" or some other person not doing anything. When the study is over, they break the seal of an envelope and find out which group did what.

I also thought that it would be better with some changes, like switching the panels, but when I first read it, I was still like, "This is an improvement over a lot of the comics lately. It needs a lot of polishing up. You know, something an editor would help with. But the core joke is decent, and that's better than usual."

Then I read the alt text and I was like, "What the FUCK was that, Randall?!? Man, you sure did prove to me that you know things about meteorology THAT IS SO HILARIOUS."

The tumbleweed thing made like zero sense to me. I had to reread it to even figure out what the fuck was going on. And then when I did, it wasn't funny. I am stupider for having seen this comic. Part of my life, which I will never get back, is expended because of it.

"OH GOD SPIDERS" would make sense for someone on meth to say, since apparently a common symptom of meth is the sensation that bugs are crawling on/under one's skin. But he used LSD, not meth, so I dunno what the fuck.

@ScottMcTony What's this 5 category hallucinogen schema you're talking about? I know of various ratings for experiences (Shulgin's scale, etc.), but not for substances.

Randall has clearly never taking acid. He should stick to writing about stuff he knows.

I started college as a huge nerd (probably would've liked xkcd had it existed then). I spent the first few weekends of college hanging out with other nerds who'd play Magic, watch bad sci-fi on TV, and have polyamorous relationships with a whole bunch of unattractive people (I wasn't getting laid though).

Then I realized that spending my weekends getting really drunk, smoking lots of pot and taking something stronger from time to time was more fun and lead to more interesting social interactions (still wasn't getting laid though).

The nerds would complain about being outcasts, but it seemed self-imposed. Everybody at my small liberal arts school was at at least somewhat nerdy, and an outcast in high school. Most of the students figured out partying was better for their social lives than a Dr. Who marathon (although I can see the temptation of polyamorous sex with unattractive people). Randall seems to belong to the group that never got the partying thing down and settled for Dr. Who and sweet ugly nerd love.

ACTUALLY, as someone who knows an actual something about double-blind experiments...

Most of the time NOBODY knows which participant is in which group... DURING the study. The only "person" who knows is the computer, which might assign a participant to be given pill A or pill B, or to be shown stimulus I or stimulus II. The coding of which participant is in which study might then be encrypted, so no one can know who is who without unlocking the results.

Only AFTER the study might the researches be able to unlock the groups, and so learn which participant was in which study.

... or, occasionally, as others have suggested, a third-party might know the groups. This isn't usually considered as sound, though.

Randall's drugs of choice are Sleep Deprivation, Caffeine, and maaaaaaybe small amounts of Alcohol [no large amounts any more, after the New Years Incident....], so give him a break for not actually knowing what hard drugs are like. As we all know, "write what you know" has hardly stopped him before.

So, wait. Would an experiment where nobody knew who was in what group be a triple-blind test, then? This concept excites me and I wish to attempt it immediately. Someone fetch me a blotter-page of acid!

Also, I have to admit that I always feel a little weird when I'm aware that a joke won't work because the writer chose the wrong drug reference. Like, normal people shouldn't know what effects different drugs have. I worry a lot about being normal. Maybe I should drop some LSD to help me relax.

i read a few of yours (including this comment above) and have come to a conclusion. You're a boring bastard and hate review blogs. Read (and complain about even thoug people like them) this blog if you will!

I thought tumbleweed was meant to be sorta circular, so it y'know , tumbles. Because of this, the first thing I thought of when I saw randall's meaningless bundle of squiggles was a tangle of pubic hair.

so it appears the two gun slingers, were naked all along! we could not tell (because we were not zoomed in on their vaginas) In their quickdraw, their revolvers get caught in their short and curlies, and fly out their hands, clashing in the middle and forming a boyant horrible mess of personal fuzz.

On hitting the ground the guns in the pubic hair go off, killing the naked cowboys in a fit of incredible irony.

The newest one was fucking freaky.

When I saw it, I was immediately reminded of the mutation arc in the animated series of spider-man (click my name) where peter parker sprouts an extra set of arms.

I thought "holy shit this is going to be absurd and hilarious, she's clearly been bitten by a radioactive spider and shit's gotten real"then I read the punchline and laughed myself shitty.

What the hell is this?

Welcome. This is a website called XKCD SUCKS which is about the webcomic xkcd and why we think it sucks. My name is Carl and I used to write about it all the time, then I stopped because I went insane, and now other people write about it all the time. I forget their names. The posts still seem to be coming regularly, but many of the structural elements - like all the stuff in this lefthand pane - are a bit outdated. What can I say? Insane, etc.

I started this site because it had been clear to me for a while that xkcd is no longer a great webcomic (though it once was). Alas, many of its fans are too caught up in the faux-nerd culture that xkcd is a part of, and can't bring themselves to admit that the comic, at this point, is terrible. While I still like a new comic on occasion, I feel that more and more of them need the Iron Finger of Mockery knowingly pointed at them. This used to be called "XKCD: Overrated", but then it fell from just being overrated to being just horrible. Thus, xkcd sucks.

Here is a comic about me that Ann made. It is my favorite thing in the world.

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